Biography
Paul Johnson, who records under the name Canyon City, first surfaced in 2015 by merging conversational narratives with a restrained yet cinematic strain of indie folk. Operating from Nashville, he issued multiple EPs before unveiling his debut album, Midnight Waves, in 2016.
Born in Fargo, North Dakota, he relocated to Music City to enroll at Belmont University, where he quickly embedded himself in the local folk and indie circuit by performing at house shows and sharpening his singular approach. His earliest Canyon City releases appeared as the 2015 EPs Flicker a Light and Refuge, followed by Smoke & Ash in 2016. Midnight Waves arrived later that same year as his first full-length, with Constellation issued in 2017.
By the time Bluebird emerged in 2019, Johnson had surpassed 100 million combined streams online, his narrative-driven, textural alt-folk style prompting comparisons to Gregory Alan Isakov, the Tallest Man on Earth, and Noah Gundersen. He returned in 2020 with the homespun EP Circling the Sun.
Born in Fargo, North Dakota, he relocated to Music City to enroll at Belmont University, where he quickly embedded himself in the local folk and indie circuit by performing at house shows and sharpening his singular approach. His earliest Canyon City releases appeared as the 2015 EPs Flicker a Light and Refuge, followed by Smoke & Ash in 2016. Midnight Waves arrived later that same year as his first full-length, with Constellation issued in 2017.
By the time Bluebird emerged in 2019, Johnson had surpassed 100 million combined streams online, his narrative-driven, textural alt-folk style prompting comparisons to Gregory Alan Isakov, the Tallest Man on Earth, and Noah Gundersen. He returned in 2020 with the homespun EP Circling the Sun.
Albums
Petrichor
2023
Blood
2023
Matinée
2022
Circling the Sun
2020
Bluebird
2019
Constellation
2017
Midnight Waves
2016
Refuge
2015
Singles
Changes
2021
Comets
2021
Locket
2021
Paris
2021
Song for Spring
2021
Wish List
2021
Let It Snow
2020
Like the Stars Shine
2020
Purple Horizon
2020
Catch Fire
2020
Irises
2019
OK
2019
When I Fell
2019
Lost Sparks
2018
3 Hours
2018
Shadows
2018
Find You
2017
Midnight Flight
2017
Paper Airplanes
2017
Between the Stars
2016
Smoke & Ash
2016
Flicker a Light
2015